@rohanpaul_ai: Terence Tao has a problem with how AI is doing math, and it has nothing to do with whether the proofs are correct. Math…

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Terence Tao criticizes how AI is being applied to mathematics, arguing that automated "strip mining" of problems like Navier-Stokes damages the long-term development of the field even when the proofs are correct.

Terence Tao has a problem with how AI is doing math, and it has nothing to do with whether the proofs are correct. 😀 Mathematicians wanted AI as a calculator, not a competitor. "So, there was quite a lot of activity around Navier-Stokes, and now it’s all kind of in disarray. Eventually, we will recover. I think eventually we will understand that proof, and eventually people will come back into the field, but the way it was done was very suboptimal. I think there’s a responsible way to solve problems that develops a field, and then there’s this irresponsible way, which is this emerging, sort of automated strip mining of these problems, where you get your immediate goal but at the cost of damaging the future development of the field." - Terence Tao ---- Full video on "New Scientist" YouTube channel, (link in comment)
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Cached at: 11/01/26, 05:56 PM

Terence Tao has a problem with how AI is doing math, and it has nothing to do with whether the proofs are correct. 😀

Mathematicians wanted AI as a calculator, not a competitor.

“So, there was quite a lot of activity around Navier-Stokes, and now it’s all kind of in disarray. Eventually, we will recover. I think eventually we will understand that proof, and eventually people will come back into the field, but the way it was done was very suboptimal.

I think there’s a responsible way to solve problems that develops a field, and then there’s this irresponsible way, which is this emerging, sort of automated strip mining of these problems, where you get your immediate goal but at the cost of damaging the future development of the field.“

  • Terence Tao

Full video on “New Scientist” YouTube channel, (link in comment)

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Mathematician Terence Tao warns that AI-driven efforts are rapidly solving research problems, threatening open science traditions and long-term scientific progress.